THE #1 SONG 25 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS....

Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul and The Wild Pair. Who were The Wild Pair and why were they played by MC Skat Kat in the video. Was that cat actually into scat? Great mysteries of pop. Anyway, by the time Opposites Attract was released in 1990, Paula Abdul was a superstar and her album Forever Your Girl was H U G E! Opposites attract was the SIXTH and final single from the album and its FOURTH No. 1!! Hot damn! Paula went all out on the video, mixing live action and animation as inspired by Gene Kelly's movie Anchors Aweigh. The video won a Grammy award for Best Short Form Music Video. Opposites Attract took the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 10, 1990 and stayed for three weeks. The song and the video became one of the first big hits of the 1990s. Anyway, here is the #1 song 25 years ago today, Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul.

Get your own valid XHTML YouTube embed code

THE #1 SONG 25 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS.....

.....Forever Your Girl by Paula Abdul. It took a full year for Paula Abdul's debut album, Forever Your Girl, to reach the top of the Billboard album chart and her single Straight Up to make it to #1, but once they did there was no stopping Paula. Hot on the heels of clinching her first #1 song, Paula's record label was eager to capitalize on her new success as fast as possible and released the title track to her album. With a flashy video, some even flashier choreography by Paula herself and a gaggle of adorable kids, including an 8-year-old Elijah Wood by the way, Forever You Girl hit the peak of the Hot 100 on May 20, 1989 and stayed there for two weeks.  It would be the second of four #1 singles from the album. Definitely one of Paula's signature songs, FYG also topped the AC and Dance Music charts in the US and hit #1 in Canada. It's a sweet love song and an 80s classic. Here is the #1 hit from 25 years ago today, Paula Abdul's Forever Your Girl.

THE #1 SONG 25 YEARS AGO TODAY WAS.....

....Straight Up by Paula Abdul. Obsessed! I was so into Paula Abdul in the 80s it was crazy. It was almost like I was straight. ALMOST! This song and this album were my life for an entire year, y'all! Straight Up was technically the third single off of Paula's debut album Forever Your Girl (although the first two singles, Knocked Out and (It's Just) The Way That You Love Me were not successful and were re-released after the success of Straight Up) and it took it a while to start getting attention. Released on November 22, 1988, the song took almost three months to climb to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, but when it did it kicked off a landslide of hits for Paula. Also, her album Forever Your Girl gained momentum and, after 64 weeks on the chart, finally hit #1 later that year. Anyhoo, Straight Up also boasted a sexy little dance video that introduced Paula's amazing skills as a choreographer to a broader audience and also highlighted her mysterious relationship with Arsenio Hall, who makes a cameo in the video just weeks after his talk show debuted. Were they or weren't they? Who knows? Who cares? The video, directed by David Fincher,  went on to win won four 1989 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video, Best Editing, Best Choreography, and the first Best Dance Video award. WERQ! There is no denying that Straight Up is a 80s and pop classic hit and it helped change the landscape of dance music and music videos for years to come. Paula, I miss you. Enjoy the #1 song from 25 years ago, Straight Up by Paula Abdul.